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Simulation of Gaussian Pulses Propagation Through Single Mode Optical Fiber

Using MATLAB

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 Al-Adnan et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2013, Vol.54, No.3, pp.601-606

Simulation of Gaussian Pulses Propagation Through Single Mode

Optical Fiber Using MATLAB
Salah Al–Deen Adnan Taha*, Mehdi M. Shellal, and Ahmed Chyad Kadhim
Department of Laser and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract
Computer-aided modeling and simulation software programs are essential tools
to predict how an optical communication component, link, or network will function
and perform. This paper aims to investigate the various effects on pulses
propagation in optical transmission systems utilizing the MATLAB program.
Dispersion and Attenuation effects are explored. The simulation of Gaussian pulses
propagation through single mode optical fiber, simplifies the design of optical
communication system and make the design process more efficient, less expensive,
and faster.
Keywords:Optical Communications, Single Mode Optical Fiber, Attenuation &
Dispersion.

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Introduction
An optical fiber is a thin filament of glass
with a central core having a slightly higher
index of refraction than the surrounding
cladding. From a physical optics standpoint,
light is guided by total internal reflection at the
core-cladding boundary. More precisely, the
fiber is a dielectric waveguide in which there are
a discrete number of propagating modes. If the
core diameter and the index difference are
sufficiently small, only a single mode will
_________________________________________
* Email: Salahadnan9999@yahoo.com
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propagate. From a transmission system
standpoint, the two most important fiber
parameters are attenuation and bandwidth. There
are three principal attenuation mechanisms in
fiber: absorption, scattering, and radiative loss.
Silicon dioxide has resonance absorption peaks
in the ultraviolet (electronic transitions) and in
the infrared beyond 1.6 µm (atomic vibrational
transitions), but is highly transparent in the
visible and near-infrared [1]. On the other hand,
a fiber optic system using a glass fiber is
 Al-Adnan et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2013, Vol.54, No.3, pp.601-606
certainly capable of carrying light over long
distances. By converting an input signal into
short flashes of light, the optical fiber is able to
carry complex information over distances of
more than a hundred kilometers without
additional amplification. This is at least five
times better than the distances attainable using
the best copper coaxial cables. The system is
basically very simple: a signal is used to vary, or
modulate, the light output of a suitable source —
usually a laser or a LED (light emitting diode).
The flashes of light travel along the fiber and, at
the far end, are converted to an electrical signal
by means of a photo-electric cell. Thus the
original input signal is recovered [2]. Computer-
aided modeling and simulation software
programs are essential tools to predict how an
optical communication component, link, or
network will function and perform. These
programs are able to integrate component, link,
and network functions, thereby making the
design process more efficient, less expensive,
and faster. The tools typically are based on
graphical interfaces that include a library of
icons containing the operational characteristics
of devices such as optical fibers, couplers, light
sources, optical amplifiers, and optical filters,
plus the measurement characteristics of
instruments such as optical spectrum analyzers,
power meters, and bit error rate testers. To
check the capacity of the network or the
behavior of passive and active optical devices,
network designers invoke different optical
power levels, transmission distances, data rates,
and possible performance impairments in the
simulation programs [3].
The Fiber Optic Transmission
In an fiber-optic transmission, an optical
signal, serves as the information carrying
vehicle. Both analog and digital information are
supported. In operation, the light is launched or
fed into the fiber. The fiber itself is composed of
two layers, the cladding and the core. Due to
their different physical properties, light can
travel down the fiber by a process called total
internal reflection. In essence, the light travels
through the fiber via a series of reflections that
take place where the cladding and core meet, the
cladding-core interface. When the light reaches
the end of the line, it is picked up by a light-
sensitive receiver, and after a series of steps, the
original signal is reproduced. To sum up, a
video camera’s output or other such signal is
converted into an optical signal in an FO system.
It is subsequently transmitted down the line and
٦٠٢
converted back following its Reception [4].
Calculating the performance in optical fiber
communications systems in which nonlinearity
plays a significant role in transmission is
difficult. The difficulty is further enlarged by the
complex way in which different modulation
formats — such as the return-to-zero, chirped-
return-to-zero, and differential phase- shift-
keying — interact with modern-day receivers.
The details of the optical filtering, electrical
filtering, and internal nonlinearity can
significantly impact the performance in even a
standard receiver with hard-decision decoding.
The use of forward error correction and signal
processing further complicates the calculation of
the performance [5].
Gaussian Pulse Response
Many optical fibers, and in particular
jointed fiber links exhibit pulse outputs with a
temporal variation that is closely approximated
by a Gaussian distribution. Hence the variation
in the optical output power with time may be
described as[6].
…(1)
Where are the standard deviation
and the variance of the distribution respectively.
If represent the time at which
where pulse width. Then from
equation (1) it follows that:
Moreover, if the full width of the pulse at
points is denoted by then:
In the case of the Gaussian response given
by equation (1) the standard deviation is
equivalent to the root mean square (rms) pulse
width.
The Fourier transform of equation (1) is
given by [6]:
…(2)
The 3 dB optical bandwidth is defined
as modulation frequency at which the received
optical power has been fallen to one half of its
constant value. Thus using equation (2):
and
=2
Hence
 Al-Adnan et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2013, Vol.54, No.3, pp.601-606

When employing return to zero pulse where D (λ) =

the maximum bit rate = ,then,
Which is expressed in . The
total broadening of an optical pulse over a
Alternatively, the 3 dB electrical bandwidth length of fiber L is given by:
B occurs when the received optical power has = D (λ) L …(4)
dropped to of the constant value giving [6]: Where is the wavelength spread of the
source. To measure the dispersion, one
examines the pulse delay over a wide
Attenuation Units wavelength range. At the zero-dispersion point
Signal attenuation (or fiber loss )is defined the pulse delay will go through a minimum. To
as the ratio of the optical output power Pout from calculate the dispersion point the pulse delay
a fiber of length L to the optical power Pin .This will go through a minimum. To calculate the
power ratio is a function of wavelength ,as dispersion by D(λ) is given by [7]:
shown by the general attenuation curve in Figure
1 .The symbol is commonly used to express D( )= …(5)
attenuation in decibel per Kilometer [7]. for 1200 1600 nm
α= log ( ) …(3) Where Zero Dispersion
Where Pi is the optical input power, Po is Slope 0.092 , Zero
the optical output power and L is the length of Dispersion Wavelength 1302nm 1322 nm
fiber. and Operating Wavelength [7].
An ideal fiber would have no loss so Pout
=Pin. This corresponds to a 0-dB attenuation, Computer Simulation and Results
which is practice impossible. An actual low-loss The simulation program "MATLAB"is
fiber may have a 3-dB /Km average loss. This used to simulate signal propagation with the
means that the optical signal power would design of corning Single Mode Fiber (SMF -28).
decrease by 50 percent over a 1-Km length and As example, the specifications of the corning
SMF -28 single mode fiber are shown in table 1
and the transmitter and receiver have the
specifications as shown in table 2 [4]:

Table 1- The specifications of the corning SMF -28

Substrate Material Fused silica

Cladding Diameter 125 1 m

Core Diameter 8.3 m

Coating Diameter 245 5 m

Mode Field Diameter 10.4 0.8 m

Figure 1- Attenuation –versus –wavelength curve Index of Refraction core 1.4675

Index of Refraction 1.4622
would decrease by 75 percent (a 6-dB loose) cladding
over 2-Km length, since loss contributions Refractive Index Difference 0.36%
expressed in decibel are additive [7].
Dispersion Calculation Zero Dispersion 1312 nm
The total dispersion in single-mode fibers Wavelength
consists mainly of material and waveguide
dispersions. The dispersion D is represented
by[7]:

٦٠٣
 Al-Adnan et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2013, Vol.54, No.3, pp.601-606

Table 2 The specifications of transmitter and The signal at 15Km distance

0.012
receiver.
Transmission rate 2.5 Gb/s
Transmitt Output Power 0 dBm 0.01

er Spectral Width 1 nm
Operating wavelength 1550 nm 0.008
Zero–Dispersion Slope 0.093 Ps/n Km

power(w)
Zero-Dispersion 0.006
Fiber 1312 nm
Wavelength
Attenuation 0.2 dB/Km 0.004

Receiver Sensitivity -32 dBm

0.002

Attenuation Effects
Attenuation of a light signal as it propagates 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
along a fiber is an important consideration in the time(ns x 10
-9

design of an optical communication system, Figure 3 This signal represents the shape of source at
since it plays a major role in determining the 15 km distance. The effect of attenuation is
maximum transmission distance between a shown on the pulse amplitude which was
transmitter and a receiver. The attenuation 4.217 mW.
effects at varies distances are shown in figure 2,
The signal at 25Km distance
3, 4, and 5 which are calculated using equation 0.012
(3) and the values of the output against distances
are shown in table 3. The simulation of optical 0.01
signal propagation through SMF refers to:
When the distance increase the output 0.008
power will decrease. This relation is described
power(w)

in figure 6. 0.006
Input Signal
0.012
0.004
0.01

0.002
0.008
power(w)

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
-9
0.006 time(ns x 10
Figure 4 The source signal at 25km distance
0.004 through the optical fiber where the puls is
2.211mW.
-3
0.002 x 10 The signal at 60Km distance
8

0 7
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
time(ns) -9
x 10 6
Figure 2 This Pulse represents the Input signal to the
Optical Fiber from 10 mW Laser source of 5
power(w)

1ns duration.
4

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
time(ns) x 10
-9

Figure 5 The pulse amplitude source is into 0.316

mW when using an optical fiber 60km in
length (distance).

٦٠٤
 Al-Adnan et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2013, Vol.54, No.3, pp.601-606

The signal at starting point

0.012
The power attenuation of the source pulse
0.01

0.009 0.01

0.008
0.008
0.007

power(w)
0.006 0.006
power(w)

0.005
0.004
0.004

0.003
0.002
0.002

0.001 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
-9
0 time(ns) x 10
0 20 40 60 80 100
Distance(Km Figure 7 Two pulses of laser source at the starting of
Figure 6 This curve represents the power of the optical fiber to show the effect of pulse and
source pulse travelling through an optical attenuation .
fiber of 100 km length (distance). The signal at 5Km distanc
0.012

Pi=10mw, α=0.25dB/Km. 0.01

Table 3 Attenuation effects at varies distances.
0.008
Distance(Km) 5 15 30 45 60 90
power(w)

Output Power 7.499 4.217 1.778 0.750 0.316 0.056 0.006

(mw)

Output Power -1.24 -3.75 -7.50 - - - 0.004

dBm 11.24 15.00 22.51
0.002
Dispersion
In addition to being attenuated, an optical 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
signal becomes increasingly distorted as it time(ns) -9
x 10
travels along a fiber. This distortion is a Figure 8 Attenuation and dispersion effects at 5 Km.
consequence of intramodal and intermodal
dispersion effects. Intramodal dispersion is pulse
The signal at 20Km distance
spreading that occurs within an individual mode 0.012

and thus is of importance in single-mode fiber.

In this simulation section the effects of 0.01
attenuation and dispersion at the same time will
described. Where the attenuation and dispersion
power(w)

0.008
effects are added together to the optical signal.
The output of simulation program for varies 0.006
distances are shown in figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and
11. The simulation result of dispersion effects 0.004
refers to : when the distances increase the pulse
width will increase as shown in table 4. Thus 0.002
overlapping between pulses may be occur which
causes distortion in information [1]. The
0
relationship between pulse width and distances 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
-9

is shown in figure 12. The dispersion and total time(ns) x 10

broadening of an optical pulse over a length Figure 9 Attenuation and dispersion effects at
of fiber L are calculated from equation (4) and distance 20 Km.
(5) [1].

٦٠٥
 Al-Adnan et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2013, Vol.54, No.3, pp.601-606

The signal at 30Km distance Conclusions

0.012
In this paper, a simulation methods are
presented on a single mode optical fiber, using
0.01
MATLAB. The signal with wavelength of 1550
nm was used, to study the effects of attenuation
0.008
and dispersion through the fiber optic length by
power(w)

computer simulations. The results indicate that

0.006
these effects increase with increasing the
distance through the fiber optic length. As
0.004 Overlapping
propagation continues attenuation increases.
Ultimately, the propagating signal is attenuated
0.002
until it is at some minimal, detectable, level. At
this distance the amplifiers will used to
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
-9
regenerate the optical signal and to eliminate the
time(ns) x 10
effects of the attenuation and dispersion. In
Figure10 Attenuation & dispersion effects at distance
30Km.
practical measurements, it is not trivial to
-3
The signal at 60Km distance
measure fiber loss because the value is low, and
x 10
7 some precautions and a very good resolution are
required to obtain a meaningful value with any
6
degree of precision. Also to measure fiber
5 dispersion usually implies a measurement of the
propagation time. There are two avenues one
power(w)

4 can use: One is the standard procedure in

industry but requires a very long piece of fiber,
3
Overlapping
like 100 km. To obtain a resolution of 0.1
2
ps/(nm km), one needs to measure a timing
differential of 10 ps/nm. With two light sources
1 10nm apart, this is feasible because fast
photodiodes and sampling oscilloscopes easily
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 resolve times well below 100 ps. Thus it is clear
time(ns) x 10
-9
that, from the results of simulation process for
Figure 11 Attenuation and dispersion effects at distance attenuation and dispersion effects are more
60 Km. efficient, less expensive, and faster.
Table 4 Total broadening of an optical pulse over a length
of fiber L. References
1. McGraw-Hill. 2004, Optical
Distance(Km) 5 20 30 50 60 Communications Essentials. The McGraw-
Hill Companies.
2. Forestieri,E., 2005. Optical Communication
Pulse width(ns) 1.34 2.18 2.96 4.11 4.87 Theory and Technologies. Springer
5 Science + Business Media, Inc.
3. Gerd Keiser, 1991. Optical Fiber
4.5 Communications. Second Edition.
4. J. Crisp, 2001. Introduction to Fiber
4
Optics. John Crisp.
5. John M. Senior, M. Yousif Jamro, 2009.
Pulse width(ns)

3.5
Optical Fiber Communications Principles
3 and Practice. Pearson Education Limited.
6. M. Bass, Eric W. Van Stryland, 2002.
2.5
Fiber Optics Handbook. Fiber, Devices,
2 and Systems for Optical Communications.
The McGraw-Hill Companies.
1.5 7. Michael M. A. Mirabito, Barbara L.
Morgenstern, 2004. Applications, Policy,
1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 and Impact. The New Communications
Distance(Km)
Technologies: Elsevier Inc.
Figure12 The relationship between Distances and Pulse
width.

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